NAME
Convert::TNEF - Perl module to read TNEF files
INSTALL
The usual:
perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install
SYNOPSIS
use Convert::TNEF;
$tnef = Convert::TNEF->read($iohandle, \%parms)
or die Convert::TNEF::errstr;
$tnef = Convert::TNEF->read_in($filename, \%parms)
or die Convert::TNEF::errstr;
$tnef = Convert::TNEF->read_ent($mime_entity, \%parms)
or die Convert::TNEF::errstr;
$tnef->purge;
$message = $tnef->message;
@attachments = $tnef->attachments;
$attribute_value = $attachments[$i]->data($att_attribute_name);
$attribute_value_size = $attachments[$i]->size($att_attribute_name);
$attachment_name = $attachments[$i]->name;
$long_attachment_name = $attachments[$i]->longname;
$datahandle = $attachments[$i]->datahandle($att_attribute_name);
DESCRIPTION
TNEF stands for Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format, and if you've
ever been unfortunate enough to receive one of these files as an email
attachment, you may want to use this module.
read() takes as its first argument any file handle open
for reading. The optional second argument is a hash reference
which contains one or more of the following keys:
output_dir - Path for storing TNEF attribute data kept in files
(default: current directory).
output_prefix - File prefix for TNEF attribute data kept in files
(default: 'tnef').
output_to_core - TNEF attribute data will be saved in core memory unless
it is greater than this many bytes (default: 4096). May also be set to
'NONE' to keep all data in files, or 'ALL' to keep all data in core.
buffer_size - Buffer size for reading in the TNEF file (default: 1024).
debug - If true, outputs all sorts of info about what the read() function
is reading, including the raw ascii data along with the data converted
to hex (default: false).
display_after_err - If debug is true and an error is encountered,
reads and displays this many bytes of data following the error
(default: 32).
debug_max_display - If debug is true then read and display at most
this many bytes of data for each TNEF attribute (default: 1024).
debug_max_line_size - If debug is true then at most this many bytes of
data will be displayed on each line for each TNEF attribute
(default: 64).
ignore_checksum - If true, will ignore checksum errors while parsing
data (default: false).
read() returns an object containing the TNEF 'attributes' read from the
file and the data for those attributes. If all you want are the
attachments, then this is mostly garbage, but if you're interested then
you can see all the garbage by turning on debugging. If the garbage
proves useful to you, then let me know how I can maybe make it more
useful.
If an error is encountered, an undefined value is returned and the
package variable $errstr is set to some helpful message.
read_in() is a convienient front end for read() which takes a filename
instead of a handle.
read_ent() is another convient front end for read() which can take a
MIME::Entity object (or any object with like methods, specifically
open("r"), read($buff,$num_bytes), and close ).
purge() deletes any on-disk data that may be in the attachments of
the TNEF object.
message() returns the message portion of the tnef object, if any.
The thing it returns is like an attachment, but its not an attachment.
For instance, it more than likely does not have a name or any
attachment data.
attachments() returns a list of the attachments that the given TNEF
object contains.
data() takes a TNEF attribute name, and returns a string value for that
attribute for that attachment. Its your own problem if the string is too
big for memory. If no argument is given, then the 'AttachData' attribute
is assumed, which is probably the data you're looking for.
name() is the same as data(), except the attribute 'AttachTitle' is
assumed, which returns the 8 character + 3 character extension name of
the attachment.
longname() returns the long filename and extension of an attachment. This
is embedded in the 'Attachment' attribute data, so we attempt to extract
the name out of that.
size() takes an TNEF attribute name, and returns the size in bytes for
the data for that attachment attribute.
datahandle() is a method for attachments which takes a TNEF attribute
name, and returns the data for that attribute as an object which is
the same as a MIME::Body object. See MIME::Body for all the applicable
methods. If no argument is given, then 'AttachData' is assumed.
SEE ALSO
perl(1), IO::Wrap(3), MIME::Parser(3), MIME::Entity(3), MIME::Body(3)
CAVEATS
The parsing may depend on the endianness (see perlport) and width of
integers on the system where the TNEF file was created. If this proves
to be the case (check the debug output), I'll see what I can do
about it.
AUTHOR
Douglas Wilson, dougw@cpan.org